Around the World in 28 Periods

No matter where a girl grows up in the world, there’s a very good chance that she will be inundated with endless myths and misconceptions about menstruation, as no bodily function—with the exception of childbirth, perhaps—is more universally misrepresented and ubiquitously tabooed. From whence comes life, also comes our biggest source of shame.

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The cause of this stigma is truly perplexing. After thousands of years of menstruating, humans should probably be over the sight the blood itself, the odor, pain, and the waste it creates. And we certainly shouldn’t be mystified by the nature of the act, as almost every mammal on the planet operates on a cycle, from the tiniest fruitbat to the great blue whale herself.

And yet—there are still places in the world where women miss out on opportunities, are denied access to school and jobs, and in some cases, become a man's property the moment her first cycle begins.

For Menstrual Hygiene Day, WomensHealthMag.com looked at how different countries around the world experience, understand, and educate each other about menstruation. What we found was frustrating, shocking, and in some cases, surprisingly beautiful.

1. Afghanistan During menstruation, women in Afghanistan avoid washing their vaginas because they are told it can lead to infertility. Compounding the issue is the lack of access to clean pads. A single menstrual pad costs $4 USD in Afghanistan. Sixty-two percent of Afghani schoolgirls report using strips of torn clothing, and many hold off on washing them until nightfall to keep it a secret.

2. Australia "In my work at Water-Sanitation-Hygiene, #WASH, I work with women on city fringes of Vanuatu, Solomon Island, Fiji, and Papua New Guinea, where water sanitation is a problem. While older women are still using reusable cloths, younger women use disposable pads. These impoverished communities don’t have proper solid waste management, so the pads end up in the waterways and dogs are eating them.

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While some women are open about their periods and see it as natural, letting the cloths dry on the washing line, other women see it as taboo. That’s when it becomes an issue, because women don’t let them dry properly—they hide them under the mattress and they get mold and bacteria. Tampons and menstrual cups are not necessarily a good solution, because if you don’t have any place to wash your hands and clean them after, then that can be a hygiene issue.”—Dani, 30

3. Bolivia School girls in Bolivia can often be found carrying around used menstrual pads in their backpacks all day because they are told that menstrual blood is so dangerous it can cause diseases like cancer if it’s mixed in with other trash.

4. Barbados “I got my period at 12 in Barbados. The women there use pads, and if you’re in a stall, you can smell when a woman in the next stall is using them. Back in Barbados, women didn’t really wear tampons, or at least they didn’t mention it much if they did. Women wearing tampons were seen as not virgins, and slutty. One time my cousin put a tampon in cup of water and showed me how it expanded, saying the same would happen if I put one in. I was so freaked out!

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The first time I tried a tampon was for a Rihanna concert. I was wearing a white skirt, and my blood flow was really heavy. I didn’t find out until after the concert that I had leaked all throughout the back of my skirt. My boyfriend came to pick me up and was like, ‘You’re bleeding all over yourself!’ He was such a jerk. We broke up.”—Sasky, 30

5. Brazil "I was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, but came to Toronto, Canada, in the early 90s with my dad. When I decided to come back to Brazil, it was to dig deeper into my roots, only to discover my passion for music and holistic medicine. But it's so hard finding natural products here. You would think Brazil, being so enriched with nature, would start evoking better and healthier ways of taking care of what we put into our bodies. Recently I found what they call a Diva Cup here in Brazil. There are still not enough people aware of it; they think, 'this is a hippie thing.'

Throughout my adolescence, I had a pretty hard time with my cycle. It all changed when I realized that there was a deeper connection to earth and the purification of my body. How amazing is it that we are in sync with the moon? I use this time to detox, purging all my emotional and physical toxins; I create a ritual around my moon cycle, honoring the changes and the natural flow. I’ll surely miss it when it’s no longer there. A woman’s experience is when she can truly see the completeness in all that her body has to offer.”—Camila, 33

6. Canada "Ecologically, tampons were concerning because I was throwing away probably 10 tampons a day on my heavy days, maybe more. Usually, I would flush them, but I was always concerned because my brother—a plumber—often called tampons "sewer rats," because they always clogged toilets.

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I was introduced to the Diva Cup after the birth of my second child. I actually loved figuring out where my cervix was, and noticing how the position of my cervix changed on different days of my cycle. I did find it to be a bit messy taking it out at first because my fingers would be bloody. But the diva cup is life changing—I’m learning more about my cervix and my cycle, as it it measures the amount of blood lost. My girls—10 and 7—already know all about the Diva Cup. They've seen me empty it and insert it. They know what a vulva is, what a vagina is, what a perineum is, what a cervix is.”—Trish, 40

7. Chicago, United States "My period showed up on a Saturday—the morning of high school placement testing and a figure-skating tryout. I woke up with a belly ache but shrugged it off because I was rushing to get dressed. Then, there it was—bright red blood dripping between my legs. I freaked out. My mom had told me that my period might come, but that was a while before, and I certainly wasn’t expecting it to show up that morning.

I called to my mom from the bathroom and she brought me a tampon. It was large and I tried to insert it by listening to her instructions through the door and looking at the coloring book-like images on the box. It felt awkward and I continued through the day of testing and skating with cramps and a cotton wad inserted inside of me. Later, my mom and I went to the store to get slim tampons, which felt better.

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To this day, I despise my period. I have always done everything I can to avoid it—skipped the placebo birth control pills, requested Seasonale, and now have an IUD.”—Renee, 30

8. China "In Chinese culture, women’s sexuality is not frowned upon necessarily, but it’s not talked about. I remember when I was young and moved to Canada from Hong Kong, I would see pad and tampon ads just plastered around. If you were back in Hong Kong, it wouldn’t be like that.

When I first got my period, I approached my mom and she kind of knew, so she took me to buy pads. She didn’t say anything the entire time, but it wasn’t in a creepy way. Every time I had a leaking accident, she’d help me clean it up, but she wouldn’t say anything.

As we spent more time in Canada, I became more open to it. But she was also more open, too, and so now I talk to her about it and she doesn’t care.”—Vicky, 23

9. Cree “I'm a Cree woman, so my teachings are based on the teachings I've gotten from my own family as a Cree person.

When you’re on your moon cycle, you're in ceremony, and you're in a sacred space and time. When a Cree woman goes through the transition from girl to woman, there is the rite of passage called a berry fast. It's a really beautiful time and it's really celebrated. My adopted aunties that I was living with at the time put me through my berry fast, which includes going into a lodge and staying there for up to four days, depending on however long the grandmothers' decide for you to stay. While you're in this lodge, you're in a fasting ceremony. You refrain from solid food, but the grandmothers will bring you soup and water. You're praying to your grandmother and aunties, and thinking about what's happening with your body. You're praying for your future as a woman. This includes everything from raising a family to what you want to be when you grow up.

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You're also encouraged to be creative with your hands and create sacred items that you would use on your journey. It's a time of self-reflection and prayer when you're fasting,. When that's done, you come out and there's a big feast.”—Rosaly, 33

10. Egypt "This is something my friends and I still laugh about. Sometimes we’d call the local convenience store and ask them to deliver stuff to us, and whenever we had to order pads, they would wrap them in newspapers and put in plastic pads because they don’t want them to be seen. I never asked for that, but they would always be so awkward about it. Newspaper wrapping was a sign that it was a pad—I always got a kick out of that.

In Egypt, you wore only pads because tampons were for grown women (women who are married and had sex). Once my cousin was asking for tampons, but the store clerk would only show her pads. She said, “No, I want tampons,” and he refused to give her them, saying they were only for women. It’s crazy, this random store clerk telling her what she could use for her own period. But it’s a strongly held belief that if you use a tampon you’re no longer a virgin.” —Pacinthe, 30

"In Georgia, periods are perceived as something that men shouldn't even be aware of, so my mom taught me the stealthiest techniques for stashing my pads up my sleeve before heading to the bathroom. (Tampons were always a big no no, thanks to the all-enlightened perception that they are the biggest threat to your virginity, outside of pre-marital sex, of course.) One day, I think I was in 5th or 6th grade, I accidentally left my backpack open while running to my next class. One of my pads fell out in the middle of the hallway. A boy that I had my first ever crush on (an IRL crush I mean, obviously not counting Aladdin) picked up the pad and tapped me on the shoulder. I was completely mortified—I'd recently seen a bootleg version of Carrie. I was 100 percent convinced that's exactly how this interaction would unfold. But he just smiled and said, "You dropped this, here you go."—Irina, 26

12. India

"I did not see my own womanhood as something positive or to be celebrated, but as a curse that I had to constantly make room for and muddle through. Like the scar on my arm, my reproductive system was a liability. My disease [endometriosis], starting at puberty with my menses and developing part and parcel with my womanhood, affected my own self-esteem and the way I felt about my body. No one likes to get her period, but when your femininity carries with it such pain and consistent physical and emotional strife, it's hard not to feel like your body is betraying you...

Getty/Julia Johns

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All my life, I had the sense that something was wrong and I couldn't put my finger on it. I had seen college roommates pop two ibuprofen pills and skip off to basketball practice with no problems when they had their periods. I always wondered what was wrong with me. Why did I have such trouble dealing with one of the most basic and common functions Mother Nature handed all women? I heard my mother's voice echo in my head: 'Because I had it, and your grandmother had it. It's just what happens.'"—author and chef Padma Lakshmi, 45

13. Iran "I lived in Iran during high school. I love Iran and would want to raise my daughters there, but the pads there were awful! There was barely a sticky liner. It was so thin, like take a pencil and draw a single line—that’s how thin they were. They were also huge, like diapers—they go all the way from the top of your crotch to the top of your butt crack.

I sometimes actually had to use cut up diapers or used cloth. You name it, I’ve done it. I never saw or even heard of tampons in Iran. They believe it will break your hymen, and virginity is a huge thing in Iran. Even some newlyweds still sleep on a white sheet so the man can wave it after they consummate their marriage to show the blood proving that she’s a virgin.

The only time I heard of tampons was during swimming competitions, where my coach mentioned them but he was so hush-hush about it. A lot of public washrooms are still literally holes in the ground, which makes throwing away these products extremely awkward. I’ve seen women who will walk out with plastic bags of their used products, and I’ve done the same.”—Shabby, 29

14. Japan A long-standing tradition in Japan dictates that women cannot be sushi chefs because their sense of taste is thrown off by menstruation. “To be a professional means to have a steady taste in your food, but because of the menstrual cycle women have an imbalance in their taste, and that’s why women can’t be sushi chefs,” Yoshikazu Ono, the son of the famed Jiro Ono (of Jiro Dreams of Sushi) told theWall Street Journalin 2011.

However, women are fighting back, starting their own restaurants and ending this damaging myth.

15. Kenya The ability to afford menstrual pads is a luxury for women all over the world, and for women in Kenya, this luxury is often at the behest of a male superior, like their husband or father. Because of this, many women resort to using leaves and sticks to absorb the blood. Even then, girls in Kenya miss an average of 4.9 days of school a month because of their periods.

16. Lebanon "Periods have always been a touchy subject for me, especially since I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome when I was fourteen. Because of it, my periods are extremely irregular; I’ll only get them once every six months, then at times twice a month.

I know a lot of women really see their periods as this rhythmic connectedness with the earth, but mine never followed it. I felt out of touch with this sacred rhythm. And for a long time, I developed a lot of shame around it. While I didn’t spend most of my life in Lebanon, Lebanese culture has always surrounded me, and your identity as a woman is really tied into biological motherhood and building your family, and knowing I would have trouble with that was not easy.”—Nicole, 28

17. Malawi The taboo against menstruation is so prevalent in this country on the Southeastern side of Africa that parents just do not talk to their daughters about it. UNICEF has stepped in to help educate young women and provide them with a type of reusable pad, but in the meantime, many are taught about periods by their aunts, who often provide old clothes to use as pads, and teach them to avoid boys now that they are fertile.

18. Nepal The tradition of chaupadi (which was technically outlawed in 2005 but still persists in many communities) involves sending menstruating women to live in sheds, isolated from others and forced to endure the elements, often without access to food or clean water. This has led to illness and even death for many women in the region.

19. New York, United States "I was on hormone replacement therapy (HRT, which for transmen is testosterone) for six months when I was 28. After a few months, I was relieved when my period stopped. I didn't like how HRT made me feel, so I stopped and my period returned. At this point, instead of hating the fact that I was a man who had a period, I decided to find the humor in it. Our whole lives, we're taught that only women menstruate. In actuality, anyone who has that anatomy has a period. I decided to cope with it. It caused me anxiety when I'd go into the men's public bathroom and would have to change a tampon. I would seek out a single-stall bathroom whenever I could.

Thinx/Julia Johns

Now that I'm on HRT again, I'm no longer getting my period. But as someone who could in the future have a period, I worry that it would out me as a trans person and that the reaction would be negative or even violent. While most violence isn't directed towards transmen and is most often directed towards transwomen, it is still a possibility that's always in the back of my head.”—Sawyer, 30

20. Nigeria "I grew up in Nigeria until I was 17. What I do remember is getting embarrassed when my mum told everyone that I got my period. They were all so excited and congratulated me as though it was something I worked hard on.

We were in the Yoruba tribe. There are three major tribes in Nigeria: Yoruba, Ibo, and Hausa. My mom, Silva, is an OBGYN nurse in Nigeria. She says Hausa women usually don't go out during their period until it’s over. She also mentioned that Muslims there usually don't have women attend mosque, or participate in religious things such as fasting, as they are considered unclean. Depending on the part of the city or village one is in, my mom says some Yoruba women who have just given birth are not allowed out for 42 days afterwards. They are considered unclean because there is still bleeding postpartum for up to six weeks after birth."—Nerftiti, 37

21. Pakistan "I remember in the 6th grade our science textbooks had a section on puberty. My mom—a teacher at the same school—thought it was really important to teach it. But all the other teachers and parents decided that they wouldn’t. So they actually took every single person’s textbook and tore those pages out. Sex-ed doesn’t exist in Pakistan.

I got my period when I was 10 and had a sense that it was something taboo and inappropriate. I only showed my mom. I was embarrassed and my mom panicked, too, because she wasn’t expecting I’d get it so young. I was crying, and she cleaned me up and gave me the pad.

Afterwards, she sat me down and explained to me what my period was. Then, she’s like, once you get your period you can get pregnant. If you kiss a boy you’ll get pregnant, so don’t kiss a boy. It’s so funny to remember how she was trying to scare me—what a mom will do to keep her daughter safe.”—Annie, 25

22. Philadelphia, United States

"For years, I learned to period quietly. I’d hide the smell, wrap up old pads or tampons in wads of toilet paper, and bury them deep in the depths of the bathroom trash can. I’d feel for wet spots in the bed at night, worried about ruined sheets.

So I was surprised the first time a man went down on me without pause while I was on my period. At first, I was worried that he’d drown in my menses. After the first, second orgasm, I felt less self-conscious and gave myself the freedom to enjoy it. For some reason, we’ve conditioned women to divorce pleasure from fertility. Our culture tells us that we should hide ourselves, that we are unsexy and unloveable in those moments that are perhaps our most womanly.

Cheers to the partners who see us as boundlessly beautiful and sacred, as more than our periods. Why can’t I be pleasured always?"—Jessica, 26

23. Somalia "I was born in Mogadishu, Somalia. I’m not an observant Muslim except I fast for Ramadan.

I got my period at 11. I didn’t know until my sister took the sheets I slept on that night and went to Dad—my mom was in Germany at the time, saying, ‘She’s dying!’ She was six, so I tease her about it now. Back then I was like ‘Thanks, bitch.’

My aunt came and gave me the period rundown. We have a culture where when you get your period, you can’t pray, fast, or go to the mosque. You can’t do anything you’d do to be an observant Muslim, because you’re not considered ‘dahir’—clean, or pure. Once your period is done, you have to wash your hair and shower.

"When I was in sixth grade, we went on a school trip to Kruger National Park, one of the largest game reserves on the continent. A popular myth at the time was that the lions could smell menstrual blood, something that the boys on the trip loved to remind the girls of that had already begun their periods. Mass hysteria ensued, ending with a park ranger telling said boys to quit “talking rubbish.”

The only interaction I ended up having with wildlife on that trip was with the monkeys that broke into my chalet. In case you were wondering, they love Pringles. "—Jasmine, 24

25. South Korea "I got my period in Grade 7 at an all-girls’ school in South Korea. All my other friends had their periods already and they’d tease me that I hadn’t gotten mine yet. I was in class when I first got it. I was shaken up seeing the blood. I told my friends and they gave me a pad. When I came back from the classroom, my classmates had written on the blackboard, ‘Congratulations on becoming a woman, finally, Seungmee.’”

When I came to Canada I was surprised to find tampon dispensers in public washrooms and the general openness of sexuality. One time, in class after I just recently arrived to Canada, the teacher played a sex-ed video. I was so embarrassed that I actually turned my back to the TV. We don’t see these things in Korea.

My mom is someone who’s always been open about discussing the menstruation cycle, but even still, I was surprised to see her hide the pads in the closet. She never left them in the washroom where my dad or other men could see them. It’s something she always keeps hidden."—Seungmee, 31

26. Thailand "My mom introduced me to tampons after she bought me the book, The Care and Keeping of You, which had a diagram showing me how to put it in. It works better than a pad, and way less mess.

When I went to teach math and English in Thailand last year, I didn’t realize that I needed to come prepared. A week before my period, I realized I didn’t have tampons, so I went to six big supermarkets and found no tampons whatsoever. I freaked out. Most Thai women use pads, and not the ones we’re used to here but the old-style bulky ones that look like a diaper. I eventually found tampons at a small pharmacy store, but they were without the applicator. I had to resort to using those until I got a hold of my boyfriend’s mom and asked her to send some.”—Dora, 25

27. The United Kingdom In November, 2015, Charlie Edge and her friends decided to protest the U.K.'s period tax by putting on their white jeans and bleeding infront of the Parliament building.

"Taxes are necessary, I get it," Edge wrote in a Facebook post about the protest. "So are tampons/pads. They're not luxury items, anymore than jaffa cakes, edible cake decorations, exotic meats or any other number of things currently not taxed as luxury items. Maternity pads are taxed, but incontinence pads arent. We've had enough. Maybe bleeding on their doorstep will get the tories to do something about this?"

28. Washington, D.C., The United States

Policies surrounding period and period-related topics are becoming such a hot topic, even President Obama is weighing in on them. In a recent interview with YouTube blogger, Ingrid Nilsen, Obama fielded questions about the way period products are taxed as a luxury in some states. “I have to tell you, I have no idea why states would tax these as luxury items," said Obama. "I suspect it's because men were making the laws when those taxes were passed, and I think it's pretty sensible for women in those states that you just mentioned to work to get those taxes removed."

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